Canine Capers
by Anotherjaneway
Summary: Captain Stanley experiences the innocence of a little girl from the Make A Wish Foundation. Station 51 becomes overrun by dogs on the prowl. :


This is a text version of the original still airing imaged, music soundtracked story.

Emergency Theater Live, Episode Forty

40. Canine Capers Season Six- Episode 40 Short summary-  
Captain Stanley experiences the innocence of a little girl from the Make A Wish Foundation. Station 51 becomes overrun by dogs on the prowl. :)

****WARNING**** The long summary to come is very story spoiling and will take away plot surprises if you read it now before reading the longer story below it.

Decide now if you want to read this episode's detailed summary before doing so.

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Long Summary-  
Roy receives the wrath of a vengeful mother at the station in the form of a basket full of puppies. Squad 51 answers a shooting only to find themselves face to face with the barrel of a gun. Patrol Officer Vince Howard oversees the rescue and follows up on what becomes a murder investigation. A little girl visits the station as a week long guest ride-along through the Make A Wish Foundation with Charlie the mechanic as her chaperone and Dixie McCall as her attending nurse. Felicia, their station guest, endears herself to the gang through tiny acts of selflessness and open curiosity about their jobs. A car crash into an apartment building exposes a psych patient and helicopters are summoned for trauma. Charlie shows Felicia the world of fire department power tools. Roy and Johnny gives her a tour of a paramedic helicopter and answer delicate questions about mortality. Dixie shares the news of Felicia's death and Charlie tells of the eclipse that occurred the moment she died. Bonnie and Gage come away from the experience particularly effected as they learn about love.

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. The Story Unfolds...

Season Six, Episode Forty.  
Canine Capers Debut Launch: December 1st, 2006.

Author credit goes to Felicia, a delicate little girl whose last wish on Earth was to appear in an Emergency episode through the Make A Wish Foundation organization.  
All writing for the character, Felicia, is hers.

Felicia, we miss and love you very very much. (

From: E!lf Date: Thu Dec 7, 2006 10:16 pm Subject: Canine Capers "You!"  
Roy DeSoto, engrossed in inventorying the drug box, looked up from his task to find a middle-aged woman advancing on him like a man-o-war. She had a younger woman by the hand and was dragging her along relentlessly. The younger woman was, in fact, very young. She was also very pretty. She was also very pregnant. She was clutching a large basket in her free hand and her face was streaked with tears.  
Roy stood and faced her politely, his broad, honest face open and his blue eyes puzzled. "Can I help you ma'am?"  
"Oh, I think that you've been quite enough help already!" She motioned over her shoulder. "I know that you're responsible for this! Don't even bother to try to deny it!"  
Roy's eyes grew round and his face reddened. He was possibly the most devoted husband and father in California. "No! Ma'am! I never -- I mean -- I swear --!"  
"Oh, sure! Your kind always do. Not that I'm saying you're the only one. As far as I'm concerned, every fireman in the building is involved."  
Shocked, Roy risked a quick glance at the girl. She had pulled her hand free from what he could only assume was her mother's grasp and was swiping at fresh tears. Roy darted a look around the vehicle bay. He could see Chet and Marco lurking just inside the door to the dayroom listening and he knew Johnny was hiding behind the squad, but no one leaped to his rescue.  
"What-uh... . . what . . . ?"  
She barrelled forward as if he hadn't even spoken. "And since you're responsible, you can deal with the results! Give it to him, Myra!"  
"But, Momma!"  
"GIVE it to him!"  
With a subdued sob, Myra thrust the basket into Roy's hands and turned and ran. Momma dusted her hands together in a satisfied manner and marched out after her. Roy stood stunned as the basket jiggled in his hands.  
Chet slunk out, sidled down to the door controls and closed the big bay door, then he, Marco and Johnny came over and gathered around.  
Johnny clapped his partner on the shoulder. "Something you need to tell us, Pally?"

Roy gave him a look. Then he lifted the basket up and gingerly raised the lid to peek inside. A pink tongue came out and licked his nose. Drawing one corner of his mouth back in a tight grimace, he flipped the lid open. Six little white heads popped up. Some of them were beginning to develop the first of their black spots.  
"Puppies!" he exclaimed. "Dalmatian puppies!"  
Chet's brow furrowed. "But Boot isn't a dalmatian!"  
"You're right. Go tell Momma that!" Roy told him.  
"Uh, no thanks. I'll pass."  
"They sure are cute," Marco said, reaching out a finger to one of them.  
"Cute, yeah," Roy agreed, "but what are we going to do with them?"  
"You mean what are YOU going to do with them," Chet corrected him.  
"Yeah," for once John Gage sided with his nemesis and against his best friend. He smiled his slow, crooked smile. "After all, you're the one standing there holding the basket.... Daddy."  
Roy glared at his partner, but any response he might have made was lost when the puppies all suddenly sat up, alert, tipped their little heads back and howled mournfully.

Two seconds later the tones sounded.  
##Squad 51. Man shot. 2253 Bernadette Plaza, cross street Wilshire. LAPD is en route. Time out 09:23#  
Chet ran to copy down the address and acknowledge the call. Roy shoved the basket of puppies at Marco and he and Johnny jumped in the squad. Roy took the call slip Chet handed him. Marco re-opened the bay doors and the two paramedics sped away.

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Photos: None.

*  
From: E!lf Date: Sun Dec 17, 2006 2:06 am Subject: Shot Up DeSoto thought aloud in his head. ::In the Roaring Twenties, during the golden age of silent films, this part of Los Angeles had been home to some of the brightest stars in California. To say that it has declined dramatically is an understatement.:: he mused.

Roy guided the squad up a narrow, winding and badly potholed street, past dirty little bungalows and the rusting hulks of broken down vehicles. The radio came to life. ##Squad 51, be advised that your police backup has been delayed. LAPD and LACoSD advise you to await their arrival.##

"Right." Johnny muttered. "And our victim lays out there and dies while we're sitting over here."

Their address turned out to be a leaning gatepost standing beside an overgrown driveway. It looked like the place had been a mansion once on a large lot, but the big house was long gone and the lush gardens had gone to seed.

Roy pulled to a stop. "Let's at least get the gear ready."

Johnny jumped out of the squad and began pulling stuff from the squad's compartments on his side. Roy got out and circled in front of the truck to help, but as he set foot onto the cracked sidewalk, he found himself face to face with a large young man in torn jeans and a denim jacket who had emerged from the shrubbery beside the gatepost.

"You guys looking for the guy that got shot?" the young man asked.

"Yeah," Roy said. "You know where he is?"

"Sure, he's back there." The kid pointed over his shoulder into the jungle-like growth of the vacant lot. "Back in the swimming pool."

The kid started away but Roy stopped him. "Hey, wait a minute. Can you tell us anything more about him? Who is he? What's his name? You got any idea who shot him?"

Johnny, standing behind the open compartment doors, froze when he heard his partner's sudden intake of breath. He peeked around the edge of the door and his heart skipped a beat as he saw Roy standing very still, looking into the muzzle of a gun.

The kid laughed cheerfully and brushed the barrel of the gun against the blond paramedic's cheek. "You take real good care of him, now. He's one of my best customers."

"Then why did you shoot him?" Roy could have kicked himself as he heard the words leaving his mouth, but it was too late. The shooter merely laughed.

"Business, man. Strictly business." Sirens sounded in the distance. The kid tucked the gun back inside his jacket, laughed madly and ran off on foot.

Roy slumped against the hood of the squad. Johnny closed the compartment doors.

"You okay, man?" Johnny whispered.

Roy nodded and pushed himself away from the squad. "You ready?"

"Don't you want to wait for the cops?" Gage said incredulously.

"What for?" Roy asked. "The shooter's gone."

Johnny thought about it for a second, shrugged and half nodded. The two paramedics gathered up their equipment and headed back along the trail through the overgrown gardens. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photos: None.

*  
From: E!lf  
Date: Sun Dec 17, 2006 6:11 pm Subject: The Tattoo

The path back through the greenery wound past ragged oleander and Mexican verde trees, belladonna lilies and summer lilac, of the once well-tended garden. The underbrush was heavily littered with beer cans and broken bottles and soon, a stench of human waste battled the sickly sweet perfume from the flowers.

"He's over there." Gage pointed, following his nose.

Roy hesitated, spotting something else surrounding them.  
Scattered in among the other weeds, the two paramedics caught the familiar, miniature palm tree silhouette of marijuana plants.  
::Now isn't this wonderful ?:: he thought privately. ::Someone's private patch. If there are booby traps in here....::

They passed the burned out hulk of the old mansion and finally came to the swimming pool, half hidden behind manzanita bushes and pampas grass.

The once-elegant pool was now just a kidney-shaped hole in the ground, the tiles cracked and heavily spray painted, the shallow end half filled with old tires and drifted trash. Their victim lay on his back,  
and bleeding beneath the limbs of a scrawny palm tree that had forced its way up through the broken concrete. They ran down the pool steps,  
the oxygen bottle rattling along behind on its wheels, and dropped to their knees beside him. Johnny set up the biophone and contacted Rampart while Roy did a rapid first assessment and cut the man's clothes off.

"Rampart, this is rescue fifty-one. How do you read me?" Gage began.

"Johnny, look at this." Johnny glanced over and watched as Roy shone his penlight in the victim's eyes. "Pinprick pupils," Roy said.  
He turned the man's hands up and his forearms and the insides of his elbows were covered with needle marks. "And he's not breathing so hot. Grab his O2."

"Ok." Johnny replied.

##We read you loud and clear, 51." Joe Early answered them.  
"Go ahead.##

Johnny turned back to the phone. "Rampart, we have a male shooting victim, aged approximately 45, 160 pounds. Unconscious.  
He has been shot twice in the lower abdomen and is bleeding profusely.  
Vitals are:.." he reached for the notebook Roy was holding out to him,  
"..Pulse 130 and irregular, respirations about eight, blood pressure 72 over 26. Victim appears to be an habitual drug user and he's showing signs of having recently shot up, possibly with heroin." As he read off the vitals signs, he was simultaneously preparing two IVs of Ringer's Lactate with large bore needles while he boosted the man's breathing occasionally with the demand valve resuscitator.

Roy, likewise anticipating the doctor's orders, started strapping the wounded man into MAST trousers, being mindful of possible spinal injury.  
By the time Joe Early's voice came back over the phone, Roy had them carefully in place with their patient atop a long immobilization board. He checked the man's abdomen with a pat down under the main chamber. "The suit's controlling his hemorrhaging ok, Johnny."  
DeSoto said. "I'll get another pressure."

Gage nodded.

Joe Early began his orders.  
##Okay, 51. Start two IVs, Ringer's Lactate, wide bore needles,  
full open. Apply MAST suit and inflate all compartments. 51,  
if he's under the influence of too much heroin, he could crash in an instant. Better insert an esophageal airway and get him on 12 liters of oxygen, with any needed support. Stay on his vitals,  
keep him well-ventilated, and transport as soon as possible.##

"10-4, Rampart. Two I.V.'s RL, wide bore, full open. MAST suit is fully inflated. We're establishing that esophageal airway on 12 liters of O2. He has no airway complications." said Johnny,  
eyeing up what Roy did in front of his waiting hands before Gage reattached his working ventilator to the hub of the breathing tube.

##Ten-four, fifty-one. We'll be waiting. Rampart out.##

Footsteps and crashing underbrush heralded the arrival of the ambulance attendants bearing a stretcher and closely followed by Deputy Vince Howard. The ambulance men ran down into the pool, set down the stretcher and helped the two paramedics bundle the victim onto it.

Vince remained up on the edge of the pool, glaring down.  
"What part of 'wait for backup' don't you two understand?"

"The part where our victim dies." Roy said shortly. "Anyway, the shooter's gone. He ran off to the west on foot."

"What? You saw him? How do you know he was the shooter?"

"He told us, more or less." Johnny said, grabbing the I.V. bags as his partner tucked the oxygen tank and drug box down beside the victim on the stretcher. "And he pulled a gun on Roy."

"He what? DeSoto, are you all right?"

"No," Roy said dryly. "He shot me and I'm dead."

"Very funny. Later, when we're not so busy, remind me to start laughing." said Vince, finally noticing the pot plants blooming around the swimming pool. He pointed to his partner to begin courdoning the entire area off with police tape.

The ambulance attendants headed for the road with their burden,  
Johnny pacing them.

Roy gathered up the rest of their equipment and moved to follow.

But Vince cut him off.

"Vince! I have to go! I have to follow the ambulance! You know I have to stay close in case Johnny has problems! Let me pass."  
:: And I really,.. really need to get away from here.:: came another protest from inside his head. Now that their victim was on the way to the hospital with nothing else to focus on, he could feel the shakes seriously setting in.

"I will in a few seconds. Give me something first! A name.. How about a description?" he prompted firmly.

Roy paused, falling quiet and he thought about it. "He was just a kid.  
Young. Seventeen? Eighteen maybe. Big. Six one, six two. Muscular,  
not fat. Dark hair, brown eyes, light brown skin tone. Maybe Hispanic or mixed Caucasian and Hispanic. He was wearing jeans and a denim jacket and he had a gun the size of Sonoma County. He brushed it against my cheek and the barrel was still warm. I could smell the gunpowder." The paramedic's eyes glazed at the memory.  
"He said this guy was his best customer and he just shot him because it was business. Then he laughed and took off on foot westwards. About six minutes ago."

Roy startled at some movement in his anxiety.  
Other officers were on scene now, marking the location of the two spent casings and searching the area for other evidence.

Vince stepped aside and let Roy go by. "Easy... Okay, that's good.  
And thanks. I'm still going to need a formal statement, and one from your partner, too." he said, lifting his radio to call in a surveillance helicopter to begin a man hunt.

"Right. Catch us when we're finished at the hospital?" DeSoto sighed.

"Yeah, I'll be right behind you." Suiting actions to words, Vince followed Roy back along the path.

When they both got to the street, they saw that the ambulance was long gone. Roy made short work of putting away his gear,  
but then he paused as he was getting behind the squad's wheel.  
"Hey, Vince? One more thing. The guy had a tattoo on the back of his right hand. A dog. A big, mean-looking dog, ..uh,..like a bulldog or something." Then he caught the distant look in the deputy's eyes.  
"Uh oh, did I ring a bell?"

"Maybe... Roy, I'm gonna need you to look at some mug shots, too."

"Sure. Fine. Fine.. Uh,.. we'll see you there soon." he said, with a small, not so brave smile. Without wasting any more time, Roy shifted the rescue truck into gear and sped off in pursuit of the ambulance.

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Photos: None.

*  
From: E!lf Date: Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:11 pm Subject: Interlude in the ER Roy backed the squad into place outside the ER entrance and ran inside. Vince,  
following close behind, was in time to see him disappear into a treatment room.  
Taking off his helmet, Vince slowed down and sighed. He went on to the nurses'  
station and soon cornered a cup of coffee from Dixie McCall. "How's the shooting victim doing?" he asked.

Dixie shrugged. "They're still working on him. He was in respiratory arrest when they got here." She edged close and lowered her voice.  
"Johnny said the guy who shot him pulled a gun on Roy!"

"That's what he told me, too."

"Well . . . did you catch him?" she finally ansed after his next mouthful of java.

"Not yet."

"Well you'd better!" she glared, only half mock.

Vince gave her a small grin and a teasing salute. "Yes, ma'am!"

The base station radio interrupted them and Dixie turned away to answer it.  
##Rampart, this is L.A. 110, come in please.##

"Go ahead, L.A. 110."

##Rampart, we have a fifty-three year old male,  
approximately 180 lbs, who has been bitten repeatedly by a chihuahua.##

Vince's eyebrows went up at that chief complaint.

McCall noticed. "I don't know what it is about today.  
It's like it's the Day Of The Animals, or something,  
happening out there. Dogs are going nuts on their owners all over the place."

"Let's hope these aren't pre-signs of an earthquake." Vince sighed.

Dixie nodded and waved down the hall, signalling Joe Early, and turned back to the radio. "Do you have vitals, 110?"

##Not at this time, Rampart. We are still attempting to extricate our victim from the doghouse . . . .##

Vince spit out his hard won coffee at that elaboration. Somehow,  
a doghouse and a hundred and eighty pound man stuck inside of it,  
hadn't computed. McCall chuckled and handed him some kleenix from a nearby tissue box so he could dry off his dark uniform.

Twenty minutes passed. Vince listened in on 110's rescue, drank coffee,  
and used his radio to follow the progress -- or rather, lack of progress -  
of the manhunt for the shooter.

Finally Howard saw the treatment room door open as Gage and DeSoto came out together, shoulders slumped dejectedly.

Kelly Brackett, following behind, regarded them kindly.  
"Listen, fellows, don't take it too hard. You both did an outstanding job, but that man had been abusing his body for years. He was probably only a few months away from death, even if he hadn't have been shot."

"He's dead then?" Vince asked neutrally, walking up to where they were standing outside the treatment room door.

"Yeah, a couple of minutes ago." sighed Kel quietly. "Do you know who he was yet? We'll need to notify his next of kin." Dr. Brackett said, folding up his stethoscope morosely.

"No, not yet. We'll have to wait until we learn something from the medical examiner's office. He or she'll be able trace who he was through his dental records or through his fingerprints if he's got any kind of a rap sheet with us." Moving slightly away from the doctor and the two dispirited paramedics, Vince raised his radio to his mouth. "Attention all units. Be advised that the shooting on Bernadette Plaza is now a murder investigation."

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Photos: None.

*  
From : Roxy Dee Sent : Thursday, December 21, 2006 12:49 AM Subject : Puppies and Partners~~

Dixie McCall wandered over from the desk and placed a soft hand on both paramedics' shoulders. "That's one h*ll of a tough break, fellas. I'm sorry." she said. "I thought you really had that one in the bag."

Gage shot her an irritated look.

"Uh,..not that kind of bag. Sorry again." she shrugged.

Gage swallowed around his doubly dry mouth left over from the long CPR they'd just completed and nodded. DeSoto leaned against the wall and closed his eyes wearily. Johnny smacked Roy on the arm seconds later and firmly pointed him over to the drinking fountain by the extra medical gear they had left there during their resuscitation efforts. Sighing, Roy started forward to slake his burning thirst.

Brackett stopped him with the back of his hand. "I can do you one better than that. Let me buy you coffee and lunch in the cafeteria?  
I promise you, Sergeant," he told Vince. "..that you can question and interview my boys all you like after they've both got something solid sitting inside of them, warming their stomachs."

"Fair enough. I have to remain here at the hospital anyway until our John Doe's been officially identified." replied Vince, who would be leaving soon for the police office set aside Rampart's sub-basement next to the county morgue suites. DeSoto had no doubt that he would return shortly with the promised mugshot album. "Say I'll meet you back here at the desk when you're free again, and you're good to go."

"We'll buzz you." promised Gage empathetically, trying not to push Roy ahead of him with the defibrillator to move him on a little faster.

"See you soon, fellas." Howard told them as he made his way to the employee elevators. They all heard him give out a shout when news finally came over his radio that the murder suspect with the bulldog tattoo had been successfully cornered in a nearby neighborhood backyard and safely apprehended. "We nailed him guys. Now all we have to do is find that f***ing gun."

"Thanks for the news, Vince." Roy said, relaxing finally. "I needed that."

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Roy and Johnny seriously doubted that they could eat any kind of food right then but they chewed on a few mouthfuls anyway to humor Dixie and Kel when they all sat down at a table under the comforting shade of the eucalyptus tree casting its branches over the hospital's out door cafe' a few minutes later.

"So, what's on your agenda for the day, besides going on your usual rounds and mopping up after the two of us?" Gage asked Kel Brackett after he had downed his fourth glass of milk.

"Me? Not much. It's just another slow Monday around mid-morning." he replied.

Roy blinked and stacked up his sixth empty plastic cup next to his tray.  
"And how about you, Dixie? You already know about our future schedule. Johnny and I never know what we're going to be doing next." he smiled.

Dixie hung her head over her salad at his very old firemen's joke.  
"I'm a new sponsor this week, volunteering for the Make A Wish Foundation."

"Oh, yeah?" Johnny brightened up. "That's far out. Being given unlimited money to help make someone's final dream come true. Can you talk about whom you're getting to help out for a while with us?"

Dixie smiled. "I can. And, I'm afraid I have a confession to make. The good doctor and I have carefully planned this very outting today just to set you two up concerning that very same subject matter."

"No problems there." Roy grinned. "We were on to ya from the beginning.  
After all, how many physicians actually buy their paramedics full meals,  
complete with dessert, when they're still officially on duty for the day?"

"So the two of us weren't subtle enough, eh?" Dixie asked, seriously doe-eyed.

"Nope. But we appreciate all the food and the chance to get good and watered down again." Roy saluted them with a toast using another not yet drained glass of milk.

"So fire away..." Johnny said, leaning a pair of elbows on the table in front of them. "Uh, no pun intended." Gage chuckled, rapping on the helmet he had resting on the table. "And we'll see what we can do for you."

Dixie dove right in. "Ok, she's ten years old and she's in room 506. I can't tell you about her terminal diagnosis but you'll probably be able to figure that one out on your own. She's requesting to see a couple of paramedics who are also firefighters to see if their station would allow her to fulfill a lifelong wish of hers."

"What's she asking for?" DeSoto wondered, folding his hands over his now empty spaghetti plate, his interest now piqued fully.

Kel's eyes twinkled. "It's probably nothing big, boys. But I'm afraid you're going to have to ask her what she wants. So far, Dixie and I only know what kind of people she'd like to request as part of her Wish. And none of the why for."

"Easily fixed. Is she outpatient?" Roy asked.

"Yeah. She's only in for a few hours for some blood cleansing."  
Kel answered.

"We can see her right now if you'd like. Might be a good idea to catch her before we all get ourselves busy again." Roy said.

"All right. You two had enough?" asked Brackett.

"Plenty." said Gage, rising from his chair. "Just let me go stash our gear in the squad first before we go up there. 506 you said?"

"Yeah, bed two. She's wearing a yellow shirt with blue jeans."  
Dr. Brackett answered, reaching over to bus their dishes for them.

"What else does she like besides firemen paramedics?"  
Roy asked, smiling softly.

"She likes horses." Dixie said, handing Johnny a small packet of information they needed to work with to use the Foundation to purchase anything.

"Now there's a keen topic right up your alley, partner." DeSoto grinned at Johnny.

"That's why I picked you two as her recipients." McCall said, shooing them back into the hospital. "Call me if she's feeling nauseated. I don't want to interrupt the three of you while you're still deep into making your hot little plans."

"What's our budget's ceiling?" DeSoto asked Kel.

"Fifty five thousand dollars. Give or take." Brackett replied with a grin.

Gage whistled under his breath. "Oh my.. Don't tell me her anonymous benefactor's a natural born millionaire."

"She is as a matter of fact." Dixie demurred. "Remember that odd media circus case involving that contested Shell Oil inheritance lawsuit last year?"

"Yeah."

"Well this woman's the rightful heir, come out of hiding. And the Make A Wish Foundation's her own personal first charity of choice. Have fun blowing the whole wad on my special little girl, boys." Dixie said tearfully. "We've got just a month left to spend with her at the very most, ok?"

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Chet Kelly's mouth dropped open when he found the cause of all the scratching they had been hearing echoing through the vehicle bay off and on all morning. "Say, Cap. You're not gonna believe this."

"I'm not gonna believe what?" Hank hollered from inside his office. "Did you set those d*mn*d mouse traps like I asked you to, yet? I don't want those nasty germ ridden vermin to get anywhere near those pups of Roy's. Got it?"

"I'm afraid you're going to have to come out here and see the cause of all the noise for yourself, Cap."

There was a hasty rustle of paper and a firm bang from a hastily hung up phone receiver before Hank finally joined Kelly and the rest of the gang by the back garage door, now auto-retracted open.

Cap skidded to a halt half way across the open floor where the squad usually parked. "How'd they get here? I- I.. I thought Bonnie was with her real owner and Boot was still holed up at 110's."

Henry woofed a sudden greeting as he trucked out the kitchen door to greet the two "old" newcomers to what was now his fire station.

Boot and Bonnie gleefully began to chase him, recognizing his current king-ship with an all out play feint, darting around and around the gang's legs, and wildly dashing in and out under the Ward fire engine.

"Hey, knock it off all you hairy, four-legged twits. You'll wake the puppies!"  
Hank roared.

All three dogs screeched to a halt, and regarded Cap's face with surprise.

Then their mouths fell into happy grins and they made an immediate beeline for the bunkroom, with Henry leading the way, to where the basket of dalmation puppies was being kept inside Henry's doghouse.

"Oh no, no.. no.. no.. no!" hollered Cap in a vain attempt to stop them.

"Cap, let em go. They're all fire dogs. They know better than to wake sleeping babies, don't they?" Marco asked.

Hank ran a hand through his hair in irritation. "Let's just hope you're right, Lopez. Last thing I need is a pack of overexcited puppies running around the station, piddling all over the place."

"Yeah, aren't we glad we've got just the concrete and tile flooring." Chet quipped.

Hank nailed him with a glare. "For that you've got puppy bottle feeding and their latrine detail until the pound gets here to take them away for Adoption Day on Friday." he fumed.

"Hey, take it easy. I'll do it. I'll do it. Geesh what is there about today to get all worked up about? It's not like we've had any engine calls yet to go on this morning." Kelly groused.

"You want to know why I'm all worked up? I'll tell you why I'm all worked up. Your ever loving crewmates just agreed to Wish host a little girl at the station for a week so she can learn enough to write a final semester report for her fifth grade class about firemen lifesavers. That's why.."

Stoker, Marco and Kelly all went thoughtful. Then...

"Cool." said Stoker.

"She'll be someone nice for all the dogs to play with. And the puppies, too."  
said Marco.

"Right on, man. She's more than welcome here. I'll hang the privacy curtains myself." declared Chet. "When's she coming?"

"She's on her way right now." Cap said, all of the hot air leaking out of his sails in the face of his men's open and honest enthusiasm for the added complication to their day to day routine. Then he sneezed. Hard.  
"OhHHhh. Not again." he grimaced, snatching a hand up to his face quickly to catch a trickle from an active bloody nose.

Mike whipped out a handerchief and handed it to Hank. "Did you forget to use the Vaseline Roy and Johnny left out for you last night to coat your sinuses from all the dry winter air, Cap?"

"Yes. I had a ton of paper work to do last night and this morning." Hank grumbled. He coughed wetly when blood finally worked its way back and into his throat. "I don't have time for this.." he sputtered.

The guys led him over to the radio receiving alcove and over to the garbage can resting there under the writing shelf.

"Spit it out. I'll go get some ice." said Kelly. "Then sit down on the bench. Stoker went to grab more dressings so we can pack you off on that side before you drip out onto your uniform."

Kelly ran off and disappeared into the kitchen. The engineer began digging through the engine compartments for their road side first aid kit.

Cap sighed, watching him, and then he sat dutifully. He began leaning forward to clear out his mouth into the garbage can they had given him.

He was still sitting there when the front doors opened to admit the squad, Roy, Johnny and a tiny new passenger sitting in between them.

"She's here already. Ah, isn't she a little darling." said Marco, rising from where he had been crouching next to Cap. "Well, hello there little miss. Welcome to Station 51. What's your name? Como te llama?" he asked.

Photo: Cap reading in his office.

Photo: Gage, Chet chasing Boot and Bonnie in the vehicle bay.

Photo: Dixie and Brackett at lunch.

Photo: Roy and Johnny in the cafeteria.

Photo: Bonny, looking happy.

Photo: Dalmation puppies looking shocked.

Photo: A closeup of the squad, returning.

Photo: Marco smiling into a squad window at you.

*  
From: "Patti" Date: Thu Dec 21, 2006 11:09 am Subject: The Angelic Act..

The girl before Marco was pale, but she smiled like the sun only an instant after he did. "Am I really here?" she asked excitedly,  
brushing long wavy curls out of her tom boy like face. Her eyes were brown and she seemed to be of half Italian descent.

Johnny Gage, seated next to her, took off his helmet and hung it on the hook behind him in the cab. "Yep. You sure are. And your mother's right behind us. She went to go park your station wagon in the back." said Johnny, getting out of his side of the squad.

The petite girl frowned briefly and made a small face of disappointment.

Roy clarified matters. "Don't worry. Your ma'll only be here for a little while to sign some permission papers. Then it'll be just seven of us, for a week, like we promised." He wiggled fingers to get the girl's attention in order to help her climb across the middle seat into his arms for a lift down. "And this handsome gentleman fireman addressing you.. is Mr. Marco Lopez."

"Hola, Marco. I'm afraid my spanish isn't so good yet. But I keep trying."  
she said, accepting Marco's greeting handshake.

Lopez chuckled. "That's all right. I can give you a few handy pointers over tacos. You like those? That's what's for lunch in about fifteen minutes." he offered.

"Thanks, Marco. I like tacos. I'm Felicia. I'm sorry I can't tell you my last name. Mom says only the captain gets to know that. And any doctors, if I gotta go see some for another tune up while I'm here. Thank you everybody for granting my Wish. Don't worry. I'm an A student. I promise I'll write a really, really good report and I won't say anything bad. I can't if I want to get to the sixth grade. I'll let you read it before I hand it in to my teacher, Mrs. Mulligan."

"Sounds like you have everything squared away except for putting down the actual words, Felicia." said Marco.

"I've been thinking about what to say for a long time, but I know I need a little more time seeing how everybody here works at their job to get everything exactly right." said the little girl, touching the side flasher on the squad's door with undisguised curiosity.

A new voice piped up. "You've come to the right place. We're the busiest fire station around these parts." Mike Stoker slammed shut an engine door loudly and that was when the three of them noticed that he had a portable first aid kit in his hands.

Johnny looked up, casting a glance around for the reason why. A few seconds later, they noticed a forlorn Cap parked on the wooden bench next to the soda machine by the large wall map near the office. "What happened to him?" Gage asked Marco, when he spotted the blood soaked cloth in Hank's hand as it sat over his nose.

Roy's eyebrows went up, too. "Did he lose a tug of war rope game with Henry or something?"

"Nah. He forgot to apply his schnoz lube last night." Stoker shrugged. "Things aren't too annoying yet. Chet's getting some ice for him to put on his forehead."

Felicia's mouth fell into an "O" of concern and she padded quickly across the garage space to get to him. "Oh, I'm sorry." she said to Cap. "I get nose bleeds, too, on my bad days. Here, I know just how to handle them. Want me to help you with it?" she asked Hank. "I know just how to get them to stop. Fast."

Cap's eyebrows furrowed into brief puzzlement before amusement began to surface. "Be my guest." he told their young charge as he kicked the bloody garbage can under the bench where she couldn't get too near it.

Felicia reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a plastic sandwich bag which she put on like a glove to wear. Then she dug that thumb against the side of Cap's nose until it closed off just his one bleeding nostril. Then she used her free hand to hold and grip the back of his neck gently. "I'm going to squeeze a bit back here, ok?" she said, digging her fingers deeper into his thick curly hair.

"Sure..Anything you say." Hank told her, trying not to laugh out loud. He even leaned forward further so she could reach the back of his head even easier. Hank held still when she began to lightly massage the area where his skull met his neck bones. "Ughhff. Ow?" he said when he began to feel a tingling pressure under his skin and the tightening of muscles he didn't even know he had somewhere deep inside his forehead.

"That means it's working." Felicia told him. "Only a little bit more." she told him quietly. "My bleeds quit right away when I do this."

Roy and Johnny gathered around, pursing their mouths shut in growing amusement where they stood watching the whole affair as they both leaned against the side of the squad.

"Here you go, Cap." said a returned Chet a few seconds later, handing off the ice bag. He only hesitated briefly at the sight of the girl who was apparently effectively treating Cap. Hank took the bag from Kelly but he didn't use it. He let it stay dangling between his knees.

Felicia let go when Cap began to clench his eyes shut against the tingling.  
"Ok. It's stopped." she told him, letting him go.

Cap instinctively brought the handkerchief up to his face again but the strong trickling didn't return. He breathed in experimentally. "There's not even a clot inside." he told the paramedics. "Thanks miss. Wow, I feel like a new man." he said, standing back up onto his feet.

Roy and Johnny's eyes grew wide and they both briefly examined the truth of what Cap reported with their probing penlights. "Really? The bleeding's over?" Gage asked.

"Yep. Incredible. Usually these last a half an hour or more for me. How did you do that?" Cap asked the little girl.

"I just want people to get better. And then they just do." she shrugged.

Stoker smiled. "Sounds like Dixie at the hospital's been a big influence on you."

"Oh, she has. But this is something I've always been able to do." said Felicia.

"Then I'm very glad you got here. We wouldn't have had any fun at all if I couldn't eat lunch because of my nose." Hank said, tweeking hers. He peeled the blood smeared bag off Felicia's hand and tossed it away into the waste can along with the unused ice bag. Then he shoved the whole mess into Chet's stomach. "Here, Kelly. Make yourself useful and go clean that up for me. I've got an introduction to make. Come on, miss. Let's go find a sink to wash off a bit first. Then let's go meet your mom for that necessary meeting before we chase her away for good. Are you ready for a lot of company besides us? There are nine fire dogs hiding someplace around the station. And six of them... are puppies." he told her.

"Puppies? I like puppies almost as much as I love horses." Felicia crowed.

Gage cleared his throat.  
"Yeah, well, we'll get your horse fix in sometime this week, too. And that shopping spree on our off days. I've got a ranch and four mustangs just waiting around, bored, at home." said Johnny.

Felicia giggled and nodded eagerly at the suggestion. Then she followed Cap politely into the locker room.

A woman who could only be the girl's mother came out of the kitchen where Marco had fetched her at a ring of the doorbell. "You think she'd have chosen Disneyland or Universal Studios for her final fling at the world." said the woman bravely. "But no, she wanted to stay in a firehouse and shadow some paramedics whom she considers her heroes."

"Hello, ma'am." DeSoto and Gage greeted her. "We'll take good care of her. Dixie McCall's taking this time off to be able to stop by each day every few hours to make sure Felicia's vitals stay normal and that all of her medications are taken properly. Does your daughter have any dietary restrictions or other situations we should know about that might effect her ability to get up with us at all hours of the night when we get called out?"

"None that really matter at this point. She has no real physical restrictions, either. Her body tells her when to slow down. The first thing she'll do when that happens is that she'll ask permission to quit whatever's she's doing long enough to go take a nap somewhere in the sun or under a warm blanket. I'm just worried that she'll effect how you'll be able to carry out your normal jobs." said the sad, dimly haunted woman.

"We've got that covered." said Gage. "You see, we have a fireman who's not actually one who drives a truck that's just like ours. His name's Charlie and he's one of our fire department's mechanics. He'll be chaparoning Felicia at all of our response scenes, including watching over her and he'll keep her from the things that she shouldn't be observing as situations warrant. If you'd like, we can have Dixie ride along with the two of them, too, if that'll make you feel more comfortable. We won't be placing her in any danger. Not even in the slightest. For a fact, Dixie's the one who trained both of us when we first started out in the paramedic program five years ago."

Felicia's mother shook her head. "I trust you. Please do whatever you feel's best. For some background, Felicia's father was a....fire chaplain." she breathed deeply. "But he was killed in a freak car accident when Felicia was five. She was in the car with him. That's probably where she got the idea to want to go see the places where he lived his working life when he wasn't off duty and at home with us. Then.. when my daughter got sick a year later, I.... didn't know what to do to help her with that. Not until Dixie came to me last week and told us about the Foundation. Then everything just got miraculously clearer and clearer. And now we're here. I want to thank you for taking her in." said Felicia's mother seriously, but then unbidden tears filled her eyes. She brushed them impatiently away.

"We're glad you came." said Johnny, taking her hand.

Roy smiled. "Did you know your daughter's real good with first aid?"

The mother's eyes remained clouded. "Umm, she was in the girl scouts once."

"Well, she helped out Cap a couple of minutes ago with an intriguing new way to handle a nose bleed. Johnny and I were actually struck speechless and I'll have to admit we were completely dumb founded with the results she ended up with."

The mother dropped her head. "Oh, her "healing." She been doing that since she was a baby. It doesn't matter if it's.... a skinned knee or a headache. When Felicia's around, everybody's pain and suffering seems to...just disappear. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah." said Johnny softly in awe. "We saw that."

The mother looked up with shining eyes when she saw Cap returning from the bathroom with her daughter. "Some days, I think it's so entirely not fair that she'll never grow up to become a nurse or even a doctor. No, it seems like Felicia's one angel that G*d wants back to His side far, far earlier than most."  
With a sharp honk, Charlie the mechanic's horn jarred them as it sounded from the rear. Marco jogged over there, after showing Felicia the way to the kitchen as Cap went into the office with Felicia's mother, and popped open the doors for him.

"Howdy, boys. Is she here yet? Boy am I ready for a day out on the town with a beautiful young lady." Charlie said, polishing his fire department badge nervously. "Which way did she go?"

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Photos: None.

*  
From: Voyagerliveaction Staff Date: Wed, Jan 3rd, 2007. 6:00:00 pm Subject: Spotty Situation

It was late in the afternoon. Station 51's crew still found themselves runless as the warm sun continued to trail across the smog bound cloudless sky.

Dixie McCall's suitcase and belongings were firmly encamped on one of the two bunks the gang had laid out for the nurse and their young guest behind the taupe fire blanket curtain that had been rehung nearest the shower room. An I.V. pump and a portable dialysis machine on standby glowed softly in the darkness wih occasional bleeps, but the beds themselves, were empty.

Giggles were echoing into the kitchen from the back yard.

Charlie and Felicia, were frolicking with some of the dalmation puppies in a shallow pool, contructed from a spare portable water vat off the engine. McCall hovered protectively by them, earning a thorough soaking whenever she got too near the playing pair.

The rest of the gang was cleaning up their finished lunch dishes with all the windows open so they could listen in on all the latest laughter.

"Got ya!" shrieked Felicia at Charlie the mechanic as she encouraged one of the bolder puppies to climb all over an impromptu raft she had built out of a mop sign for him. "Come on, Charlie. Pick yours up! She's got to get used to the water soon, or she'll never get a- adopted.." coughed Felicia.

Dixie, hearing the telltale wheeze, scooped Felicia out of the water and into a towel. "Ok, hard play's over. Time to rest or your chest'll fill up again faster than you want it to." she told the little girl.

"Aww, Dixie. I'm not even that tired yet." moaned the girl, sputtering under the firm drying the nurse was giving her where she stood on the lawn.

McCall was no nonsense. "What sounds like more fun? Going on a rescue with the fellas, or sleeping off too much swimming without ever getting out to see one?"

"You know which one." squealed Felicia as Charlie splashed her toes again.

"Ok, so into your jeans and fire cadet shirt with you. It's almost rush hour. A call's bound to come in before too long." Dixie told her.

"Ok, ok.. I'm hurrying." said Felicia.

Puffing, Charlie left the small pool for his own towel slung over the picnic table near the old engine. "You've worn me out little girlie. How about a game of something more sedate....liikkkee ...a nice quiet game of monopoly?"

"I'll kick your butt!" Felicia accepted.

"You're on! You and Dixie against me and the rest of the guys.." Charlie crowed, scooping up the pups one by one to carry back into the station.

Felicia and Dixie captured the rest and dutifully lugged them inside before closing the station's back outer garage door.

Bonnie wasted no time in scrubbing all of them dry with her tongue. Several pups joined Henry's bulk on the couch to warm up using the hound's ample body heat.

Chet protested. "Hey, you soggy spotted lumps. I was here with Henry first." he complained, shoving aside his newspaper's page to glare at the tiny white dogs that were multiplying around his legs on the couch cushions as water soaked into his uniform.

Three jumped off at his "growl" and soon sacked out inside a tipped over garbage can, joining a watchful Boot, who wasn't pretending to be the proud father of the milling brood.

Bonnie finished her rounds and settled herself on Dixie's lap where the nurse was laying out a pediatric BP cuff on the kitchen table from her nurse's bag.  
"Come on, time for your three o'clock vitals check. How are you feeling?"  
she asked Felicia.

"Like I'm being interrupted.." grumbled the little girl where she was happily counting out everyone's bank of Monopoly money. "Cap you can be the boot.  
And Boot you be the Scotty dog since you are a dog." she planned out.

The gang chuckled. Kelly shouted out. "I'll be the hat, since I'm already mad."  
he said, trying to wipe off the wet spots on his pants' legs.

"Mad hatter?" quipped Gage. "That certainly fits."

"Very funny, Gage. Don't tell me you're gonna be the battleship."

"Why not? I battle huge fires all the time."

Cap put in his two cents worth. "Stoker you be the anchor because you are anyways for all of us at any fire as an engineer."

"I'll take it." said Mike, smiling. But then the grin disappeared instantly and he cocked his head at a telltale click.

The rest of the gang froze in place as Boot, Bonnie and Henry all rose to their haunches and into attentiveness, as they thoroughly ignored the whimpering still damp puppies seeking their attentions.

"Wait for it." said Stoker, glancing up at the intercom speaker.

An all county tones sounded from the grille, two toned, and urgent stamped.

Cap licked his lips when the message was over. "Relax all. Richter scale one.  
And not even a foreshock. Won't amount to anything being that sized. That rumbler didn't effect the public infrastructure in the slightest." reassured Hank.

Kelly bit his lip. "Yeah, but what about the public's mental structure? Seems like in the past, to me anyway, that folks during a full moon always flip out at anything going on that's even a little bit unusual." Chet said, frowning.  
"Including an unfelt earthquake."

"I agree." Cap said, crouching near the floor to calm Boot, Bonnie and Henry down. "But..there's nothing we can do until something decides to happen out loud." he reasoned.

Dixie finished taking Felicia's vital signs. "You're fine so far. Gluc check in twenty minutes. And yes, I've already packed the monitor in our jump bag. It's sitting in Charlie's rescue squad, waiting for us." she told the girl, winking at the rest of the gang to keep up that name for the Los Angeles County maintenance truck.

The others winked back and fought down grins of amusement.

"I suppose my oxygen's there, too, huh?" sighed Felicia, rasping wetly as she leaned over the table to straighten out another pile of play money.

"So's mine." said Dixie. "You never know when the smoke's gonna catch the both of us unaware." she insisted. "And we're long overdue for going to a fire. So let's get cracking." she glared at the wall intercom.

On cue, a station's call went out as she mocked the local superstition.

"That's more like it!" Felicia celebrated.

Charlie smiled, spreading his arms wide. "Your 'Wish' is our command, little lady." he told the struck numb girl. "Come on, let's go." he said, reaching out for her suddenly nervous, sweaty hand.

##Station 51. Auto accident involving a collapsing structure. 1714 Yellow Brick Way. 1714 Yellow Brick Way. Cross street Ozman. Time out : 16:07.##

Johnny Gage hastened one of the dogs ahead of him. He whistled at Bonnie.  
"Come on, come on. You've always wanted to go, so get in! Now's your chance, too, girl." he encouraged the small dog with a grin. The tiny Yorkie leaped up onto the seat in seconds. "Henry and Boot have already had their turns a long time ago when you weren't here." he told her.

Dixie ended up carrying Felicia the last few yards to Charlie's truck parked out front in the driveway when the girl's excitement turned her legs to noodles.  
"Don't forget to put your helmet on." she teased her tiny charge as the mechanic threw on his navy blue jacket and moved the red truck aside to allow Squad 51 and the Ward engine to take the lead.

Then McCall joined up with Roy and Johnny to ride shotgun in the squad's center seat. "Have you found out how many people are involved in this one yet?" she asked.

"Not yet." said DeSoto, eyeing the road in front of them. "Why don't you find out?  
Truck One's tuned in to our frequency so watch what you say. Felicia can hear every word."

"You're pulling out all the stops for her, aren't you?" Dixie smiled.

"She wants to experience what our lives are like working our two jobs, Dixie. Only one way to do that." Gage grinned. "Just like you taught us."

"Yeah, I know. Gotta dive right into the deep end." Dixie chuckled.

Their humor dropped off when they rounded the next turn and caught a glimpse of the scene to come.

"Oh, my word." Dixie said, picking up the mic. "How on earth did they do that?"  
she wondered out loud. Then, suddenly, there was no more time for wondering.  
"I'll contact Rampart for you just as soon as I inform the chief what's going on."  
shouted Dixie to Johnny and Roy as they bailed out of the cab. "Squad 51 to Battalion One. We've at least five victims involved at the scene. One is walking wounded." said McCall, squinted to see the shadows, moving and still inside the car's shattered windows. Then she leaped out to intercept a young man cradling a bloody cheek in a scrap of clothing.

Cap aided her report on his HT to the listening in Battalion. "L.A. Respond a second alarm assignment. Our car is situated inside an apartment building. Notify the gas company. Marco, break out the electronic sniffer. If there's a pipe leak anywhere, I want to know about it."  
Gage and DeSoto started to gather their medical and extrication gear.  
"Bonnie, go to where Charlie is. Go watch the girl." Gage told the Yorkshire with a sweeping gesture as he got into his air bottle. He could hear screams from someone older and female from the back seat. "Ma'am. We're here. Now hold as still as you can and don't move around. We don't want the car to slip down even further before we've anchored it." Johnny warned as he jogged towards the strangely catapulted station wagon.

Johnny didn't even see Bonnie beeline for Truck One, who was waiting with her doors propped open to provide any mechanical aid the crews might need.

He saw Charlie running towards them with a rope to tie off onto the rear bumper.

On the other side of the car, Roy kept in his mask as he reached into all exposed window spaces to feel around for carotid pulses. "Everyone back here's alive." he told his partner and Cap, who was hovering nearby. "I can't tell about the driver though. I'm not seeing anyone down by the steering wheel."

"Runaway clutch?" Hank guessed, peering through his face plate.

"Maybe." Gage nodded, as he began to assess the most vocal passenger in the backseat. An older, stunned lady. "Easy, ma'am. I'm Johnny Gage and this is my partner Roy DeSoto. We're both paramedics with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. We're here to help you. Where are you hurting the most? Is it here where your head's bleeding?"

The old woman could only moan, unable to reply. Very soon, like the others, she fell slowly silent and still against the door jam under Johnny's carefully probing hands.

"Hey,," Gage yelled at her, reaching for her neck pulse.  
He sighed when he found it a few seconds later. "Mike, grab out all the oxygen bottles and masks we have. Get one for each victim. Dixie, she's the worst. I'm seeing dura mater pushing through a skull fracture on her." he said pointing to the first lady he had examined.

"Ok. I'll go grab an airway and a backboard." she said, as Johnny carefully fitted a collar around the old woman's neck.

"You got five tanks, Johnny." said the engineer, laying several down. He included a charged hose near the car in case it was needed to wash away spilled gasoline on the lawn or inside the apartment house's basement.

Hank shouted. "Chet, go grab the portapower, K-12 and the jaws."

Lopez gasped in relief as he hastily cast around the gas detector's probe.  
"We're clear. No natural gas in the air." he shouted.

Every firefighter within earshot shed their scba gear then as fast as they could, grateful for the added mobility. Hastily, Chet wormed his way into the hole in the wall. "There's a man down here under the car!" he shouted. "And it looks like it's gonna fall on him if it sags another foot."

Cap snapped out an immediate order. "We can't wait for the other engine crew.  
Marco, Stoker, Chet. Get down there. See if you can brace the front end. Keep it from slipping. Use the jaws if you have to."

"Ok, Cap." they said, running for the apartment's patio door. Vince, the cop,  
had already broken the glass on one of its panes to unlock the door. "Boys!  
In here. Neighbors say the owner's not home. They're on vacation."

"Well somebody is, Vince. There's a man in there."

"What?"

"He might be an ejected driver, but I doubt it. The force here wasn't great enough to break the windshield completely open." Hank said, peering once again into the depths of the vertically up-ended car stabbed through the brick wall.

"Hang on a minute." frowned Vince. "Let me check it out first." he said, drawing his gun.

"You think this might have been a robbery in progress?" Cap asked, putting two and two together.

"Probably, knowing this neighborhood. Your freak accident might have interrupted one." said Vince, cocking back the safety on his gun.

Gage's face twisted in anger at knowing that he hadn't yet escaped the criminal element for the day. "Ok, we'll wait. But not for long. Three in there have serious life threats according to Roy. They'll die if we don't get them out of there just as fast as humanly possible!" he said to Vince's disappearing back.

Captain Stanley lifted his HT. "Charlie. Pull back. 10-95."

##Copy. Retreating to a block away.## said the mechanic, putting the truck into gear. He told Felicia nothing, hoping Bonnie was enough to distract her from the obvious reason for why they were abandoning the scene.

Dixie caught the weapons code and knelt behind the rescue squad. She was tending the young man who had been staggering in the street when they had arrived. He was quiet now, and cooperative. McCall contacted the hospital.  
Keeping her head low, she watched the firefighters do the same as they hugged the violated wall, waiting for word from Vince that all was clear to continue.  
"Rampart, this is Squad 51." Dixie hailed.

##This is Rampart, go ahead.## replied Dr. Brackett. His voice was peaked with interest as to what she had knowing the nature of her special assignment for the week.

"Rampart. We've a multiple casualty MVA. One minor. Four possibly five are still inaccessible. In triage priority. Victim One. Female, approximately eighty two years of age. Open skull fracture. Rapid loss of consciousness.  
Vitals are : Pulse forty, respirations ten and shallow, BP 170 by palpation.  
Minimal external blood loss but there are definite signs of building ICP." Dixie said. "She's airway protected and being hyperventilated on oxygen." the nurse said, seeing a gutsy Marco reaching up an arm into the car to bag supported breaths into the woman's ET tube.

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In the base station, Kel rapped on the window to get Morton's attention.  
He handed over a fresh note pad to the young resident and held up five fingers. Morton took a pen from behind his ear and started scribbling as McCall's report continued.

##...Victim Six. Walking wounded. A male of 16. Slight concussion with a large laceration of the face. No blackout. Probable cracked ribs on the right. Breath sounds are normal. He says he wasn't in the car. Claims it only grazed him as it sped by out of control. BP is shocky however, eighty palp. I've got him lying down, covered, on light O2. Pulse and respirations are normal. Stand by for the other victims. We've a possible weapons situation. ##

Not for the first time, Kel felt a pang of worry for Dixie in the field that was more than just a doctor's usual professional concern. Flicking off the recorder for a moment, he voiced his feelings. "Dix, be careful out there. I'm speaking as your best ever friend when I'm saying that, so hear me out."

There was a pause over the radio.

"Dix? Tell me what's happening." Kel began again, still pausing the dictation tape.

##.....We're safe, uh, sort of. At least no heavy armor's involved in the equation.  
I'm signing out until the next one's been freed.## McCall sputtered. Then the biophone connection went dead.

"Dix..?"

Nothing but static met his ears. Followed by a derisive snick.

"Dix! Answer me, G*d d*mn it!" he cursed, sighing in irritation. He turned the recording reel to reel off. "You know, somedays I think she's even more hot blooded and impulsive than I am." he grumbled.

"Wanna bet?" Morton quipped, taking another sip from his coffee cup.

"Who asked you!" Kel roared, nearly spilling his own in his ire.

-

Vince ran to the basement, carrying his revolver in front of him like a talisman.  
He still had fresh memories of the shooting they had dealt with that morning.  
"I don't know why I picked Los Angeles to work in, somedays." he whispered to himself when he finally got to the car's location inside the basement. Luck was with him and the bright setting sun filled that end of the crawl space with daylight.

He found the man Chet Kelly had been talking about. And he was awake. A quick visual proved that he was completely unarmed, sprawled where he was on his back.  
He lay underneath the steaming chassis of the car, but there was no blood at all.  
Vince put away his gun and snapped it shut. "Hey, are you hurt at all?!" the policeman asked him, crouching near his face.

The man startled, shouting. "I told you they would find us. Stupid. Stupid. Stop looking at me!" he yelled at himself oddly, repeatedly reaching up to touch the under carriage of the car. "It's always better if you don't watch! So why did you do it?!" he sobbed, his emotions flipping from fear, to anger to total confusion.

"Hey, keep your hands down or you'll burn yourself." Vince warned him, changing his position as he gave the all clear high sign to the fireman outside with a triple slap on the car's roof as a signal. "The muffler's still hot. What's your name?"

Again the man's eyes didn't connect with his. "Crazy jerk. Gotta go to ma's now.  
She'll understand. She always does. Making good time walking the straight line."  
he chanted, his eyes darting rapidly around him as he gasped in severe emotional distress. "I'm gonna get me a good meal..." he sobbed. "Right away."

Vince saw that he lay as if paralyzed. ::No 'petrified' is the word.:: he corrected himself. He saw a bottle of pills lying on the cement by the man's waist. It was a psychogenic suppressant. He gave voice on his radio. "Engine 51. HT Mary One. This man's a space case. Altered level. Seems like some kind of nervous breakdown or something. I found these fallen out of his pocket." he said, holding up the medication. Shaking it, he found that none of them were gone. "And he hasn't been taking anything for it lately." A flash of plastic at the man's wrist caught Howard's eye. "Looks like he escaped from the hospital. He's got a Belliveue I.D. on."

"Is he pinned?" Chet asked peeking his head through the opening in the wall around the car again.

"No, nothing's even touching him. But he's a little manic. We may have to cuff him and drag him out of there before you guys can get to work on the car victims.  
I'm gonna need some help. He's restless and might be primed to fight if he finds out that we're not one of his hallucinations." Vince told Kelly.

"Ok, we'll be right down. Is there any gas leaking from the car in there?"

"No, just water from the smashed radiator!" Vince replied.

Kelly waved back and disappeared. "See if you can get him to crawl out to you. He's not safe under there!"

"Ok." Vince replied.

Captain Stanley quickly got his update from Chet. "All right. He's a psych call.  
Urban Rescue's here. They're grabbing support struts, H-bricks and anything else that can be used to start shoring up the front end of the car. I don't want anything to move once we start tearing it apart to get the rest of those people out of there." Hank told his three non-paramedic firemen.

"Hank!" cried Vince.

"Yeah?"

"It's not that bad in here. Looks like the car missed the rafters of the first floor foundation. And nothing's caving in yet."

"Thank heavens for small miracles." Cap sighed gratefully. "Hold tight. I got your backup coming. Stoker's a wrestler on his off days."

"Terrific." Vince smiled tightly. "Just what I need. Lots of muscle."

Mike, the engineer came down the stairs of the apartment into the basement a half minute later with Marco and Kelly.

Vince held them off with a gesture. "Leave your gear up there. Have nothing on you that can turn into a weapon." he ordered. "Then you can help me." he told them no nonsense.

The three pulled off their jacket halligans and left them on the stairs out of eyesight.  
But they kept their helmets on.

"All right. You can come down now." said Vince, flashing come on fingers. "We'll try the direct approach and each take an arm and a leg. I don't think he's even aware of us. But watch for kicking and punches anyway."

"Don't forget the biting." Chet reminded him.

"Never that. I still got the scabs and the tetanus shot bruise from the last one."  
the policeman grinned, still inching forward towards the delusional man.

"Are you convinced he's not on some kind of upper?" Lopez asked, not relishing the idea of a superhuman effect that could possible come from their target.

"Positive. His pupils are normal." hollered Gage from where he was squeezed inside the car again over a second unconscious woman. "I can see them from here." he said.

"Like he said. Strictly psychogenics." Vince shrugged.

"Ok, I'm trusting you like I always do the men in blue. Hope you're not letting me down, Johnny, with that observation or there's gonna be h*ll to pay later on when I get even with ya for lying to me." Kelly said softly, inching forward for the man's nearest leg like Vince was doing with an arm.

Gage rolled his eyes, but kept working on establishing spinal precautions on his patient. He didn't bother to reply.

Marco and Stoker reached for the man's contact burned arm and second leg with their gloves at the same pace as Chet and Howard.

"Ready?" asked Vince of the firemen, speaking quietly. "Don't make any sharp moves. Just be gentle. He may not trigger into a violent episode."

"How can you be so confident of that?" Kelly whispered nervously, licking dry lips.

"I can tell by the color of his bracelet. It's yellow. He's an outpatient.  
Somebody's probably looking after him. Most likely he lives in the building and was attracted down here by all the commotion." Vince told him.

"Let's hope so. I'm set." Chet nodded. So did Lopez and Stoker.

"Now..." Vince said softly, and he grasped one of the man's arms as he tensed, ready for anything.

But the mentally ill man's only change was to collapse into tears at the contact. He let the firemen drag him clear of danger like a limp rag doll.  
"Where's my sister?..She...she's always there for me. Where...where is she. Can you tell me where she is?"

Vince rolled him over and handcuffed him for his own protection before hauling him to his feet. Quickly Stoker examined him for other, more serious injuries. Then he stepped back. "He's clear, Johnny."

"Ok. Get back here. We'll cut this gal out first. Get the K-12 going."  
Johnny requested. Then he turned to his partner. "How's he?"  
he asked of the elderly man Roy was fitting with an oxygen mask.

"Two broken legs. Nothing else. He's even starting to come around a little." DeSoto answered.

"There's a child underneath my lady. She's awake but catatonic or something. Respirations are normal."

"Anything else on her?"

"Mild cuts and bruises. Reactions are fine. But I want to board her up anyway considering the damage the car's got." Gage decided.

"Better safe than..." Roy broke off, swallowing as the hard lessons of the day suddenly struck him ironically.

Gage grinned mildly. "Yeah. I know what you mean. I've got goose pimples."

Roy DeSoto crawled out of the car when the first critical was carried out by stokes. He got onto his HT just as the second alarm station arrived to help them stabilize the automobile's positioning on the overhang.  
"L.A. This is Squad 51. Respond Copter Two and Three to our location. We've three elderly criticals. Two females and a male. Station Eight has completed clearing a landing zone that has already been paced and checked out a block east of our location. There are power wires on the perimeter in this churchyard upwind. We have a squad car marking head wind direction. Request two additional BLS units for three others involved in our incident for transportation by ground ambulance."

##10-4, Squad 51. Copters Two and Three report an E.T.A. of two minutes. Both ambulance units in four. Do you require a gas utility shutdown?##

Hank Stanley got on radio. "Engine 51, L.A. That's a negative. Pipes involved were for water only. They're still out of service due to a homeowner construction project." he said, climbing out of the hole in the basement wall. He eyed the clearly inspection marked tags on the valves of the network appreciatively. ::Smart family. They've done everything by the book according to code. Nice. Things'll go smooth for them insurance wise because of it and they'll have their basement back and rebuilt good as new in a couple of weeks.:: he thought.

##10-4, Engine 51. Timestamp 17:03. Helicopter assistance is airbound#  
said L.A.

Squad Eight intercepted Roy and Johnny where they had carried their four patients. Gage pointed to the skull fractured senior that Lopez was still bagging.  
"BP's climbing. I've just begun her mannitol drip." he said, picking his ear off the biophone receiver. "She's unresponsive totally. Glasgow's eight."

One of the medics had one of their engine crew take over for Marco. "How about the others?"

"Blunt abdominal trauma, guarding lower left quadrant with diminished bowel sounds and a broken humerus on her. She goes second. This third male's shocky, history of heart trouble with bilateral tib/fib fractures. His scope's clear, showing NSR without chest pain." Gage continued. "We've got in their I.V.s, T.K.O. as their BP's are rallying to low normal. Brackett's promising a surgical ward for all three on arrival."

Roy was kneeling over the little girl from the car. "We can't figure out who she belongs to. Perhaps one or more of these folks are her grandparents."

"Condition?" asked eight's senior paramedic.

"Unmarked physically. Looks like she was protected by one of the adults when the car went through the wall." DeSoto told him. "But she has yet to answer questions. All vitals elevated slightly above normal. I found nothing on this next middle age man's head to toe past a couple of forearm burns.  
He's a confirmed psych patient in emotional crisis. Here are his meds. He's been handcuffed for his own protection for being delusional. He's non-violent.  
Vince'll follow behind his rig on the way in, in case things change."

"Where did you find him?" asked one of the urban specialist firefighters who had tagged along to carry all the backboards into the street to lay them next to the medical gear.

"He was found under the car, hiding or something from his sister. She's probably his legal out-of-hospital-care guardian." said Roy, watching as Stoker dressed the man's burns with lidocaine salve and gauze wrap. DeSoto added more.  
"Dixie's with a walking wounded, a struck pedestrian, over there. She says he's stable and uninjured enough for ground transportation. Like our mystery child is."

A loud buzzing filled the trees over their heads as the first of the helicopters circled the block, checking for obstacles in their flight path.

"There's our cue." said eight's medics. "We've got your two worst criticals in the first bird." said Eight's captain motioning his relief paramedics to take over for Squad 51.

Charlie, seeing the situation was back to normal, pulled back behind Squad 51.

"O.k. I'll take the leg fractured victim in Copter Three, when she's landed." Gage said.

Charlie, seeing the situation was back to normal, pulled back behind Squad 51. He only led Felicia forward into the treatment area when Johnny motioned for him to do so. Charlie grinned. ::So he could cover up folks's modesty and the worse leftover bloodstained bandages that had been used to care for people's injuries.:: the mechanic thought. ::Our gal's observing, true. But she's young enough to still warrant sensible shielding from reality.::

Felicia immediately sat down next to the other little girl sitting next to Roy on the yellow plastic tarp. "Is she ok?"

"She's fine. Just a little shaken up." DeSoto said. "Be careful not to get in the other firefighters' way when they start moving these patients out. Looks like you and I get to fly into the hospital next. They'll be circling back to pick us up in fifteen minutes or so."

"Aren't you taking anybody in by sirens?" asked Felicia.

"Not this time. Our captain and the captain of another company felt that Johnny and I needed to be relieved of the really badly hurt patients in order to recuperate a bit ourselves from the effort it took to cut them out and rescue them."

"Aren't you mad about that?" Felicia asked incredulously.

"No, of course not. We're all on the same team." Johnny told her.

"Oh. Maybe I can help you while we wait for the taxi helicopter, Mr. DeSoto."

"Sure. Want to hold this man's I.V. bag? If you get tired holding it up in the air. Go ahead and tuck it under his shoulder. It'll still drip ok if you do that. Don't get startled if he talks to you. He's awake and just resting."

"All right." said the sick child. Johnny and Roy could see that she was absorbing all the sights and sounds around her like a sponge. She eyed her patient's leg splints with open curiosity and a whole ton of mature respect that far belied her tender age.

Very soon, Dixie came up and knelt down close to Johnny. "Anybody going 'out' ?" she asked significantly.

"Nope. Just flying out. Nobody's dying today." Gage whispered to McCall.  
"That's why we let Charlie bring Felicia in here." he confided. "How's your car struck patient doing by the way? We never got to see hide nor hair of him." he teased.

"He shipped out by Basic Life Support. He's already at the hospital and yelling for his release papers." she replied.

A short distance away, Dixie saw Felicia work the magic she had only heard about from Captain Stanley. She was holding the car child's hand while she spoke with her. "Hi. I'm Felicia. I know how you're feeling right now. I can see it in your face. Is this man in the stretcher your grandpa?"

The dark skinned little girl nodded and began to cry.

"It's ok to cry. I cry all the time when I'm scared and you must be really scared because you think you're all alone. But you're not alone. You're with friends now. And everybody knows there's nobody friendlier than a fireman, or a policeman, or even a nurse. Right?"

The sobbing little girl ducked her head shyly and rubbed her nose when she stuck her other dirty hand out from underneath the blanket she was wearing about her shoulders. She continued to cry.

Felicia only held her tighter. "Your grandpa's going to be all right. The hospital will fix those legs of his good as new. You'll see. I see doctors fix people all the time."

"You do?" asked the little girl.

"Uh huh. What's your name?"

"Mary. Mary Simons."

"Mary, that's a nice name. How old are you?" asked Felicia.

"I'm almost six years old."

"Wow, we're almost the same age." Felicia told her. "Maybe that means we can become really good friends. Would you like that?"

Crying, and nodding yes, Mary buried her face in her hands. Tenderly, Felicia, who was barely bigger than Mary was, slowly rocked the frightened little girl to calmness inside a close, comforting embrace.

Near them, the grandfather sighed under his oxygen mask. "Who's that?"  
he asked Roy, who had bent close when he stirred into motion.

"Just a guest rider of ours from a community program. She's here on a kind of field trip today with us, sir." DeSoto replied.

"How did she do that? My grand daughter hasn't spoken to anyone in two years.*gasp* Not.... since her mother died of cancer." he whispered in surprise.

Dixie smiled, resting a hand on the old man's shoulder. "Sometimes people are born with so much empathy, that it ... seems to leak out of them from every pore. And sometimes, when someone else really needs help, I sincerely believe the one in trouble can sense that incredible, tangible caring inside of those very special folks who're ultimately there, tending to them. And so they simply have no choice then, but to get better." she said, her voice choking up.

"Angels on earth..." sighed the man as he fell back asleep, giving into the effects of the morphine Johnny had given him. "They're so rare."

Dixie's eyes filled. "And precious." Then she took hold of herself and got back to work.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Charlie's radio crackled. ##..Spap.. Truck One! Firefighter trapped.##

"What happened?" snapped Charlie, opening the back of his work truck for the tools there.

##His K-12 jammed and the skewed blade caught and snagged his jacket sleeve. He's not injured but he can't get himself free.## reported a fireman.

"Where are you?" the mechanic asked.

##At the car. Front end.##

"Ok, I'll be right there. Whatever you do, curb your instinct to just hammer away blindly. Those units are made to disassemble easily."

##10-4, standing by.##

Roy grabbed Charlie's pants leg as the mechanic began to jog by him while he put on his helmet. "Did I hear that correctly. A fireman trapped?"

##Nothing for your department, slick. This one's all mine. It's just a fatigue klutz call. Hey Felicia, wanna see ME in action?"

"Sure.." said the little girl. "I want to see it all." Then she turned to Roy and Johnny. "How long have I got?"

"About five minutes. Tops. Then we have to leave with the chopper."  
Roy grinned.

"Ok. Call Charlie on his radio and we'll come back in a hurry. I promise."  
she said, eagerly taking Charlie's hand as they made their way into the apartment building, led by Vince.

Once they got there, Felicia saw the whole extent of damage the car took in the car crash. "Oh, that's bad. Did the brakes go funny?"

"Perhaps. Well, at least the emergency brake anyway. Mary's grandpa said they were just sitting at the curb in idle when something called an accelerator pedal sank down to the floor on its own and shot the car into full forward throttle." Charlie explained. "Ok, boys, where is he?"  
he asked the circle of firemen dismantling the car enough so that a tow truck on the way would be able to complete freeing it from the tangle of the basement's impact twisted up pipework.

"He's over there on the cellar stairs by the other window." they replied, jerking fingers or glove thumbs to show him the way he had to go.

"Ok. Felicia. Do you see this they're using? It's loud, I know. Just cover your ears. This tool Mac's holding is called a zipgun. That's how we got Mary's grandpa out so fast. The only thing faster, is the K-12 round saw that some probie just jammed up. And he's my current emergency call. Let's go get him out of his bind." he said, motioning.

"Wow, are those really jaws?" Felicia said, eyeing up a second tool in another firefighter's hands. "They're so big."

"Yep. Wanna hold em?" Charlie asked, winking at the man.

"Sure. But they might be too heavy for me, I'm not as strong as I used to be anymore." Felicia said.

"That's ok. We'll help you." said Scott, the firefighter from Urban Rescue who was assigned clean up detail. He gave the running spreaders to Charlie while he walked over and picked up the car door they had torn free earlier to get the old woman with the head fracture out. "Ok, Felicia. Wanna eat car door for supper? Go ahead. Set the blades into the window and then hit the red button. Wait a minute, first put on my helmet and slap the face shield down."

Charlie knelt down behind her and together, they shredded the door apart in about ten seconds.

"Wow.. That's so cool." Felicia said. "Now I can say I used a fire tool on a real rescue."

"This one's a true lifesaver, girlie girl. She's saved over three thousand people to date if I remember my figures right on this particular set of jaws." said Charlie proudly. He handed the idling tool to Scott. "Ok, let's go bail the grunt's butt before he dies of sheer embarrassment. He'll be the laughing stock of the department if he wears that saw on his arm for much longer."

"Will he?" Felicia's mouth flopped open.

"No.. only his stationmates get the honor of ribbing him for a Need-Charlie goof call. And they only get to do so for a couple of days. Then his captain will put a stop to it before things get ...out of hand." he joked.

Felicia got the pun immediately. "Out of hand.. Charlie.. that's a good one."  
she chuckled, laughing so hard her eyes started tearing.

"Shhhh, or he'll hear us. Stop giggling. You don't want to hurt his feelings now would you? He's raw enough around the edges as it is."

"No.." Felicia choked, still laughing. "I won't. See I can turn it off." and she plastered her mouth shut.

Soon, Captain Stanley gave his disembark the scene orders to the gang.  
"Marco, Roy's awol to Rampart with Felicia and Gage on backflight.  
They're with Copter Two so take the squad home. Charlie'll meet the three of them there at the hospital after her air round and we'll have them all back just in time to ring the dinner bell."

"Right, Cap. All our gear's accounted for and stowed." Lopez reported.

"Good going. Chet, Stoker, we'll take the engine and rewrap the ropes.  
Somebody, hang that hose we didn't use, too, to drain. It should be dry and set by morning call for its repacking on the Ward's secondary hosebed." Hank said. "Ok, enough said. Let's get back to base and log this run in greater detail. The chief's gonna want the nitty gritties before sundown because this was a sudden, unexpected MCI."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So what we were on was called a mass casualty incident?" asked Felicia to Roy.

"Yep. And we didn't even know we had one until we actually looked into that smashed car. It happens that way sometimes when you least expect it."

"Well, I think you did a nice job running it, even though Captain Stanley hasn't told you that yet face to face. I thought I'd be the first to tell you that since it was my first one ever." she smiled with a derisive no nonsense nod.

"Thanks." said Gage, checking the copter's cabin out and resupplying everything he had used on Mary's grandpa's previous flight from his supply box he had received on landing. "You didn't do so bad yourself.  
We were so surprised and so was Mr. Suder, when Mary started talking again. How'd you convince her to open up again?"

"I knew she wanted to, so I told her by taking her hand that it was her choice. Everyone else she knows always orders her to talk before she's ever ready. She doesn't like that very much. She feels pressured." said Felicia.

"Wow, a budding psychologist, too. I'm impressed." Gage said, patting the cot. Wanna see what makes up one of these birds as far as patient care? Come on, I'll give you a tour."

"Ok.. I...oh, " and Felicia sat back down again. "Sorry. I ....think I'm getting a little tired on you." she sighed, gasping.

Roy's eyebrows raised. "Short of breath?"

Felicia finally nodded.

"Huh, maybe it's our altitude." DeSoto guessed. "We are up kinda high."

"That's all right. Easy fix." Gage said. "Come over here and we'll have you to rights in a couple of minutes. We'll be done with ya long before we touch down so don't start freaking out on us." he said, patting the cot.

Felicia eyeballed DeSoto getting a hissing mask ready.

"Ohhh, not the O2 therapy thing....again. I thought I .....was doing great....all this week.. not needing it.." she puffed.

"Hey, You think I wasn't puffing today hacking that car apart? I was you know. Look..." and Gage sucked in a few lungfuls on the mask himself, filling his chest. Then he wove and faked a faint on the caretaker's bench. "Whoa.. I think I took too much.." he said, acting dizzy. "Roy, I think I'm kicking the big one..Uhhhhh."  
And he fell over. Then his eyes opened. "Here Felicia, your turn to take a hit." he said miraculously recovering. "I think I'm better." he told her.

Felicia cracked up, laughing so hard that she made the pulse oximeter Roy slipped onto her finger bleep in warning. "Ok, but just for a little while."

"That's cool." said Gage.

A few minutes later Felicia opened her eyes where she lay on the made up cot. "Johnny, Roy? Can I ask you a personal question.  
You..you don't have to answer it if you don't want to. I..wouldn't want to make the two of you feel uncomfortable..but, I have to ask this, since...you both see this happening alot...with other people."  
she said, lacing her hands across her chest. She seemed very small under the oxygen mask and for the first time, strangely vulnerable to the two paramedics. It made something deep inside of them, vaguely ache in a pang of emotions.

"You can ask us anything, Felicia. We're friends, aren't we?" Johnny finally said, breaking the silence. He fussed with her hair and pulled some strands out that were tangling the elastic strap of her oxygen mask. Then without asking, he began to braid some pleats up one side of her head. "Go ahead, we're both listening and we don't have to share this with your ma if you don't want us to."

Felicia started at the ceiling of the chopper and a faraway look filled her eyes as she went someplace that only she understood in her mind.  
"I want...to ask you...what it's like...to die." she said finally, meeting their eyes with her own suddenly haunted ones.

Gage was taken aback and his mouth opened and closed many times,  
but he found he couldn't speak.

"I think I can answer that for you Felicia. But I don't know if it'll give you the exact answers that you've probably been looking for all this time since you learned of your final diagnosis from your doctors... But I can try." DeSoto whispered.

Wanting silence, Roy pulled the beeping pulse ox off Felicia's finger.  
Then he rubbed his lips and crossed his arms together in front of him in deep contemplation. "I...died once."

"How?"

"On a wire..." Roy answered softly, the distant look still shining in his eyes. "I was dead enough that Johnny and a paramedic trainee found they had to use CPR and a defibrillator on me in order to bring me back to life."

"Did it hurt?"

Roy's face twisted in memory. And doubt. "I'd be lying if I said it didn't. But I wasn't in pain for long, Felicia. And soon, I was feeling..and seeing things that I couldn't quite understand as actually relating to me in any way. But then I felt... more than anything...that I've ever felt... in my entire life."

"What did you feel, Roy? Were you scared?"

"No, I wasn't scared. I knew my friends were there. Trying to help me breathe. And awaken again." DeSoto said. "But...I- I remembered that I felt so alone, while it was all happening.."

Felicia began to cry silently, silver tears glistening in the growing darkness from the lights of the helicopter controls. But she didn't move. Nor did she take away her tiny hands that were gripping Roy's tightly.

Roy began to smile and his face began to dampen in new tears. "But then I felt surrounded by incredible joy, Felicia. It was endless. There were people there.. that I knew... who had gone before I had. And the joy was ....so deep, that I didn't want to leave it. But I knew it wasn't my time to be there and so I left. I left the moment I felt the shock course through my body and... then Karen said that I was breathing on my own again and Johnny was saying something stupid like.. how's he doing? from somewhere nearby. It...was weird.." Roy said, meeting Felicia's eyes. "Really weird.  
But I can honestly tell you both, that if I were to have to die again.. I...don't think I would fear it. Not at all. For I think I was shown that... death is simply,  
another change of life. A change that just takes us, somewhere else and into another direction where we can continue to grow and learn.  
and love.." he thought carefully.

"I think that answers my question very well. It fits what i think I've seen before at the hospital." the little girl said, drying her eyes. "Now I think I can tell mom that I'm not afraid to die when my time finally does come." she whispered.

It was three weeks later at the station house. Dixie McCall was happily bringing the last dalmation pup to her new home when the guys finally asked the question.

"How's our little gal doing, Dixie? Is she still eating up the sight of passing ambulances and fire engines?" Cap asked. "Every time we see one ourselves, we think of her."

"Yeah, we sure do." said Marco.

Dixie's smile never quite went away, but it saddened measurably in newly remembered heart pain. "I'm sorry to say this but uh,...she passed this morning boys, around nine a.m. or so. It was painless, according to her mother and Dr. Brackett." she sighed. "I was there."

The guys didn't know what to say, all they did was reach out and pet the squirming restless puppy, like the nurse was doing, just to have something to do with their hands.

Dixie McCall looked up and her eyes were shining brightly.  
"Do you know.. that you boys were all she could talk about last night?"  
Dixie sniffed, hugging the pup. "Her mother wanted me, uh.. to give you this.  
It's her school paper. The one she said she wanted to write for her Wish."  
she said, digging into her ample purse.

The gang was stunned silent until finally, Chet Kelly held out his hands.  
"We..we're honored to have to this. Can... can.. are we allowed to read it?"

"Of course. That's what it's for, guys. So we can share the world through Felicia's own eyes as she experienced it."

With that softly said, Dixie left on silent shoes.

-

It was a long time before the gang decided where was the best place. They finally chose the front driveway in front of the station. And before they turned to the first page, they called Charlie, to spend those moments looking through Felicia's eyes with him.

Charlie was nervous. They all were. And just about every fireman held a dog in their laps where they all sat in a circle on the asphalt. Boot, Bonnie and Henry, an ample belly or even just a tiny tail. It didn't matter. The dogs were suddenly needed pillows of support for the sharing to come.

And come it did. :)

In bright glowing colors and fresh ideas. Talk of the day spent with Johnny on his ranch playing with the horses, and rich technical descriptions of the afternoon wasted playing paramedic with Henry as the patient on the couch.  
Chet's water fight and Charlie's swim with the dalmation puppies. It was all there. And it was happy.

Something that the whole gang felt they couldn't possibly wish for as wanting anything more for fulfilling the dream of one tiny, unique little girl.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, you know what else?" burped Charlie from where the leaned on lawn chairs against the garage as they digested ample pots of hot cocoa in memory of Felicia.

"Huh, what's that?" asked Gage.

"Do you know why them dogs of yours were acting so nuts today?"

"They weren't acting nuts today, Charlie. Nah..." said Gage, lying through his teeth.

"Sure they were. You're lying and you know it. I seen the way all your bunks don't got any pillows on them anymore. Ripped them up did theys?  
Heheheheh. Wanna know why? And it wasn't because of no pithling earthquake.  
I'll tell all of yous why. It was a total solar eclipse that happened, that's why."

"When? Today? Huh. And here I thought it was just a power fluctuation on the grid. This morning, right?" Cap sighed.

"Yep. It happened precisely around nine o'clock. On the dot."

Roy and Gage felt a shock at first and then a trickle of warmth, felt deep inside.  
"Right when she died." murmured Johnny and Roy together, as one.

Charlie leaned forward. "What was that?"

"Oh, ...nothing important. So, what do we want to do today to honor Felicia's life. Keep and name a pup after her?" Roy suggested.

"Nah. Not too original. We'll think of something. And it'll be something truly special." Chet said. "All we have to do is put our heads together and think about it a bit."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that night, Johnny had a surprise visitor to his bunk. It was Bonnie.  
"Heya girl, what are you doing up here with me? I thought you sleep with Henry and Boot in Henry's house out back nowadays."

Bonnie just stood up on her haunches and whined delicately.

Understanding at once, Gage swept the tiny Yorkshire into his arms and gave her a hug. "Yeah, I miss her, too." he whispered, kissing Bonnie's head softly. "Shhhh, it's ok. Yes, she's gone. Let's just try and go to sleep. Maybe we'll dream about her." he grinned.

Soon, ...they did.

FIN

Episode Forty Canine Capers Season Five Emergency Theater Live ----------------------------------------------------

Photos : None.

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Canine Capers

:) This episode is dedicated to the Make A Wish Foundation. )  
who grants the last requests of passing children so that they may live out, at least, one more beloved dream before :) they leave the Earth. They are all bound for heaven. :)

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